Destined To
by RainbowMinnieMuffin
Summary: Living in an unequal world, Annabeth chase either lives in the Orphanage for Inferiors or works as a servant as the society doesn't allow her to be anything else. But when she is hired by Sally Jackson for her son Percy, she discovers herself to learns there's a lot more to her than she had known and that she is destined to do much more. Percabeth. Some minor ships (Adopted)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

"You can't just give her up like this, Athena." Frederick Chase said looking at the small bundle in his arms wrapped up in a silver blanket. The couple was currently in their mansion in the outskirts of the city.

"But I can't risk your and Malcolm's life. The more the distance between us, the safer it would be for her as well as you." The lady said with a pained expression. After all, giving up your five days old child and sentencing her to a life of abject poverty wasn't something a mother could easily do.

"Can't we keep her for some more time? Just one more week." Frederick asked just to have his wife shake her head in response.

"And risk people knowing of her birth?" She asked. The family had bought a mansion outside the city just to conceal their daughter's existence much to their three year old son, Malcolm's dismay.

"Did you speak to Chiron?" He asked Athena.

"Can you do it?" She asked. At this moment, Frederick realised how much it pained his wife to give up their newborn daughter. The little girl, whom they had named Annabeth which meant favour or grace, was certainly a pretty little thing with the tufts of curly blonde hair the shade of honey and big stormy grey eyes much like her mother.

"I'll call him," He told her handing his daughter over to his wife and letting her savour the last few moments she had with her daughter. He then left the room to call over Chiron, the noble family's long time advisor to tell him the dreaded decision.

He returned to the room to find Annabeth awake in Athena's arm who was bouncing her up and down, constantly being encouraged by Annabeth's babyish babble and laughter. The child's eyes sparkled with mirth. Frederick sighed. He couldn't believe he had to give up his daughter just in five days. He could almost imagine the fates laughing at him and his ruined luck.

All too fast, Chiron arrived and looked at the child who was wide awake in Athena's arms. He took her up in his arms and was mildly surprised when the child instead of crying just looked at him calmly and then started tinkering with his badge. The adults talked about the girl's future for nearly half an hour when they were interrupted by Malcolm. The young guy was already attached to his baby sister and had vowed to keep her safe the day she was born, making the task of handing Annabeth over much harder for her parents.

"Mommy, can Annabeth come with me. I have a gift for her." He said as he approached his mother with a lisp he had yet to lose.

"No sweetie, bring it here." Athena said leading to the boy running to her room and returning with a small pendant with an owl with two sapphires for eyes.

"Here Beth, this is for you." He told her sister as he helped his mother put it around the girl's neck.

"Go inside Malcolm, It's time for you to sleep now." Frederick said.

"Then when will I play with Beth?" The child asked. Though completely unknowing, this question asked by the child triggered something inside his mother. Something so strong, it made Athena's eyes watery. "Not now, Malcolm" She managed to say before shooing the child off to his room for the night. This was one of the reasons why she had wanted to leave her son behind.

There's was an unequal society. The people were divided as superus and inferus. The superus' were the normal people ranging from nobles to civilians while the inferus' were the slaves and servants. It was a law that inferus' women could only serve as slaves/servants to the superus who chose them. They were not allowed to take any other occupation unless they were not chosen until the age of twenty two. If this happened they were termed as city's servants. They could take up jobs such as garbage cleaners, helpers or librarians. As for the superus they were allowed to do anything they pleased.

"Don't worry. I'll do my best to keep an eye on her." Chiron assured the couple who had silent tears running down their cheeks.

"How can I not worry Chiron? She's my daughter for Heaven's sake and I'm subjecting her to the life of an inferus. She could be mistreated, abused or made a slave for all I know. I'm the one doing that to Annabeth." Athena said her voice cracking at her daughter's name.

"You know that there's no other option." Chiron said.

"There is." The woman said dejectedly.

"So why aren't you using it child? You aren't using it because you know it's pointless to keep your daughter and live in constant fear that she and Malcolm could be killed any moment."Chiron said. Seeing that his little rant didn't exactly make the couple feel better he took the child in his arms and said "I'll take care of her."

"I know you would." Athena said and then looked at her daughter and told her "Annabeth, I assure you that you'll get your rightful place. We'll meet again, baby girl." She then placed a chaste kiss on the child's forehead letting Chiron take Annabeth, her daughter Annabeth.

Later in the night, her sister, Artemis had arrived to console her.

"How many knew about Annabeth?" She asked her sister once she had managed to calm her down from the hysteric state she was in.

"Besides us, only Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Hestia and Demeter know about Annie."Athena told her. Even the mention of her daughter's name was enough to make Athena rant about how horrible a mother she was.

Meanwhile on the other hand, Chiron had reached the Orphanage for Inferus and had handed over the baby to the owner a lady in her mid thirties who wasn't quite pleased with the appearance of another child telling her Annabeth was an inferus child whose parents had died. With that, he left. This would keep the girl well concealed and most probably, safe.

 **xx-xx**

 **Umh. Hi?**

 **I have been horrible and have not continued it fast enough. But when you go on holiday without a laptop, it's hard. I tried to do it on the IPad but no luck. Sorry. It will probably happen more so I will try to make longer chapters when that DOES happen.**

 **I have ADOPTED this story from Pride and Prudence. I really liked it and she was about to delete and BAM! Stuff happens. I really hope you will like the way it will go as a have a little plan for Annabeth.**

 **First twelve chapters are her, rest will be mine *really nervous chuckle***

 **For my update schedule I will probably update every two week, roundabout 5,000 words or more.**

 **That's about it. Yeah. *Shaky smile***

 **RM**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Her Life**

 **Third Person**

"Annabeth, wake up! Come on, you can't die on me!" Piper yelled trying to wake up her best friend from the semi-unconscious, extremely injured state she was in. She had every right to be worried as the girl lying in front of her was bleeding profusely. Her long blonde hair were almost red, her dress was ripped to shreds near her abdomen where there was a large knife wound, slightly tinted green and her wrist was not facing where it should've been.

As worried as her best friend was, dying right now didn't seem like a bad option to Annabeth. After all, a pain-free afterlife in Elysium with maybe some bonus points for not doing any drastically bad things in the sixteen years of her existence would be nice for a change.

It certainly would have been an understatement, if she said her life had been uneventful. Left at an orphanage by parents she didn't know, she was an inferus which itself was a crime in her society that people made sure she was punished for. She was first adopted when she was six. Actually, adopted was the wrong word, the correct one was enslaved. Until then, she was one of the only girls who were being educated along with her best friend piper who was just a few months younger to her and had come to the Orphanage for Inferus Females when she was three. Her first job was comparatively simpler; she just had to keep Khione, the daughter of a minor noble along with her best friend Piper; if keeping company meant waiting at hand and foot. Even when she was seven, Khione managed to be a snobby, conceited bitch and was the stereotypical spoiled girl. Annabeth & Piper cleaned her messy bedroom and wardrobe did small chores and that was it. They, fortunately/unfortunately were fired when Annabeth told Khione how snobby she was and they were back at the orphanage after a year where they continued learning.

Even as an inferus, Annabeth knew a lot more than an average seven year old would and was doing middle school courses much to Piper's dismay. Life was more or less peaceful until the time they were nine. At this time, Piper had started middle school courses while Annabeth had finished them. Why these two girls were being educated was still a mystery for the children and many adults.

This time they were hired again as workers for Lady Hestia's sewing business, while Annabeth was fired within two months for she could hardly hold a needle correctly , much less sew; Piper managed to sustain her job for a longer period working there for thirteen months before returning to the orphanage. The girls had another two peaceful years at the orphanage during which they had Annabeth had almost completed the school courses and Piper wasn't far behind.

The real hell began when they were twelve. Again both of them(she couldn't figure out why were they always hired together. Not that she was complaining.) were hired by Lady Hera, a noble who was detested by many civilians and almost her whole community. She along with her two children, Drew and Ethan made life a living hell for the girls. The twins were ten times worse than Khione, not to mention cruel. Soon after Lady Hera died, living with them became like being stuck in Tartarus with no means of escape. It was horrid. The twins expected to be called Master and Mistress and were intent on torturing the girls in every possible way: mental and physical. Ethan hardly ever beat them but Drew and her boyfriends…. They took every possible chance to make them miserable especially Piper whereas Ethan paid more attention to Annabeth, to put it simply. This continued for at least four years. In fact, it was only a week ago that all this mess really began.

Drew had gone to live with one of her boyfriends and Piper was allowed to return to the orphanage, however, Ethan was staying in, so naturally he expected 'his favourite servant' to stay with him.

As soon as Piper stepped out, Annabeth came face to face with the man's true brash attitude. He was harsher than ever and use of physical force was also quite excessive. He brought in quite a lot of women and Annabeth was expected to wait on them. Even a delay of three seconds would send him in a rage.

"Woman, clean the bedroom." He told her early in the morning. Annabeth hurried in the room not wanting to anger the beast. She seriously and utterly hated her society.

Entering the room, she was extremely surprised to find it clean without a speck of dust. Confused as she was, she tried to hurry out just to have Ethan block her way out.

"Going somewhere, Annie?" He asked in a husky voice as he stepped closer backing her up against the wall and then kissing her neck. Panic rising, she pushed him and muttered a string of curse words; she would've reprimanded Piper for using.

The guy just smirked and pushed Annabeth on the bed. In the spur of the moment, she kicked him in the most inappropriate spot a guy can be kicked in and ran out. Ethan grabbed her leg and pulled her back taking up his knife and stabbing her in the stomach. Annabeth thanked whichever god created adrenaline, for she didn't know how she managed to trip the guy tangling him in the quilt and stabbing him in the leg. But as luck would have it, she tripped on her way down the stairs and banged her head pretty hard drawing an awful lot amount of blood, barely managing to reach the orphanage before falling and ending up in her current position.

"Annie, please!" Piper's voice broke her out of her reverie. "Will she make it?"

"Yes, she will," she heard an unfamiliar voice say, probably doctor, Will Solace.

Deciding it was time to assure Piper, she opened her eyes and said "Don't call me Annie," before passing out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Hired?**

For some, life is a burden. For some, it is just a phenomenon that they endure. For some, it is a rocky path with its ups and downs. For some, it was a walk in the park. And finally for some it was the ultimate party with a huge chocolate cake.

Percy Jackson certainly belonged to the last category.

Spoiled by super wealthy parents, he wasn't used to the answer 'No.' He was accustomed to getting everything he wanted, served on a silver platter. And naturally, with luxury came pride and a bit of conceit. Termed as the troublemaker by many of his friends, he had tousled raven black hair and mesmerising sea green eyes with a chiselled jaw line and well toned body. He was the son of nobles Poseidon and Sally Jackson which explained the high status. But as proud as he was, he wasn't a snob and quite loyal to the ones he knew and loved.

Currently he was in his room in the family mansion, sitting on his bed rubbing the sleep off his eyes. A teenage boy like him certainly didn't deserve to be woken up at six in the morning when his classes didn't begin until ten. He debated whether to or not to wake up, but his cousin Jason bustling in the room didn't leave much of a choice for him as he slipped off the bed to greet his cousin.

"Happy Birthday Percy!" Jason said grinning as wide as a human version of the Cheshire cat. He was Poseidon's nephew and was termed the golden boy topping each and every academic course they studied though he still was a bit weak at fighting when compared to Percy. With hair a bit darker than sandy blond and his eye an electric blue buzzing with energy, even his looks screamed golden boy

"You realize my birthday is next week, right?" Percy said in a monotone. "Let me guess. Thalia told you it's my birthday. Didn't she?"

"Yeah. That's more or less it. But why would she lie?" The former asked while a sheepish grin appeared on his face.

"The girl has been doing that for five days now. She sets up a person to wish me a happy birthday every morning at six. You sure she can't charm speak? Also don't you remember my birthday Jason?" Percy said frustration evident in his voice with a hint of amusement and sarcasm. He seriously needed to speak to Thalia. A boy needs his sleep after all.

"Not sure. So, when's your birthday?" Jason asked rubbing his neck.

"Exactly one week from now, I'll be seventeen." Percy told him.

"Oh," he said. That guy was certainly a great conversationalist. "By the way, are you coming?"

"Where?"

"For a walk in the garden." Jason told him.

"You make it sound as if we're dating or something." Percy said, his usual grin which screamed troublemaker adorning his face yet again.

"Which reminds me how's Calypso?" The blonde asked referring to Percy's girlfriend. Percy was a chick-magnet with around fifty girls who were ready to date him. It was only fair that the boy took a little advantage of that.

"She's fine. She's a lot into gardening and makeup. That's all she does I guess." He replied offhandedly. It was evident he wasn't feeling the love but you according to him you didn't have to love someone to be in a relationship. If it were so, he still would be single.

"You're coming?" Jason asked.

"Nope, you go. I'll get some sleep."

"Ok then. See you at class."

"Bye."

Percy, true to his word jumped on his bed the moment Jason stepped out but soon realised he was not able to sleep. After an hour of tossing and turning, he got up from his bed and got dressed in a simple blue round neck and some jeans.

Leaving his room, he decided to visit his mom before going to meet his friends before class started. Believe it or not, his classes were tiring. Two hours of mythology and civics, one hour of maths, one of science and three hours of sword fighting and defence could give anyone a migraine. He was about to enter when he found his parents in a deep conversation. He was about to leave when he heard his name and the mention of his birthday. Usually, he wasn't the one to eavesdrop, but the little demon inside him won the internal war he was having with himself and he stayed to hear snippets of the conversation which went something like:

"Do you really think we need to get him a personal caretaker?" Poseidon asked his wife.

"I think so." Sally said.

"Hiring an inferus is to be Percy's slave wouldn't be good for him I think."

"But someone needs to keep him in check."

"You think an inferus would be able to do that?"

"Yeah. Let's try this for his birthday. I'll go to the orphanage tomorrow and see."

This was weird. Percy had had servants, many of them but his personal one- Never. The idea both thrilled and disgusted him. Having someone to bow down to every single command of his- cool. But the fact that he was basically enslaving a person, destroying his/her life, made him uneasy.

 **xx-xx**

Piper was at Annabeth's side yet again. The person who was basically her family, the only one was lying there unconscious, pale and burning up from fever and all she could do was to sit there and stare at her and shed tears feeling helpless.

Yeah, that pretty much summed it up.

Piper and Annabeth knew each other since they were three. Piper's parentage was itself a mystery to her. All she knew she was the result of an inter-community marriage and when her father died, she was sent here as a punishment and was forbidden any contact with her mom. Who were they? She didn't know.

Her back-story…pretty gloomy. For all she knew, she couldn't handle any more gloom at the moment.

"Prep up, girls. Fast." Bethany shouted. "People are here."

And this was just additional proof that her life officially sucked. S-U-C-K-E-D.

All she could hope for that she wasn't hired this time due to the following reasons:

Annabeth was in no condition to work and they had always got hired together. So naturally, if she was hired this time, she would be alone and she couldn't imagine it much less experience.

She couldn't leave Annabeth alone in this condition.

She was sick and tired of all this mess, to put it simply.

As much as she hated those nobles calling them shallow and snobbish, she couldn't help but envy them sometimes. And here was another one of them wanting to make one of them miserable by giving them the honour of staying in their company.

The lady, Sally Jackson came in the infirmary where Piper was sitting beside her best friend. Crossing her fingers, Piper prayed to every single god that existed wishing she was there just for a tour or a look at the girls or anything else. Just not to hire anyone of the two. As fate would have it, Annabeth chose that very moment to wake up or atleast make her presence known by opening her eyes and muttering something she couldn't comprehend.

Piper couldn't help but fuss over her best friend and the women standing in the doorway smiled. She was a bit astonished– scratch that- she was completely and utterly shocked on hearing that both of the girls were educated, even more than her son was. She wasn't the one to judge by looks but these two were seriously beautiful, the blonde had a regal aura around her and even in her injured state looked majestic while the brunette could be described more as cute.

She smiled again knowing who was she hiring and left the infirmary to tell the owner.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Breaking the News**

Waking up was definitely not Annabeth's favourite thing to do. She didn't remember waking up on the first five days of her life, but the sixth was memorable or so she was told. That was the GOLDEN day she woke up at this orphanage. After that, she usually woke up to someone crying on being hired or injured or starved or beaten. When hired, she woke up early usually to a cold splash on water in the face by Piper urging her to wake up. But in her history of waking up, this had to be the worse. She opened her eyes just to find her whole body aching and a migraine. Her side throbbed and she couldn't move her wrist. She looked at her side to find piper sitting there tear tracks on her face and new one forming in her eyes. Behind her was a lady, a noble by the looks of her, smiling at her. She radiated a motherly vibe with brown hair and welcoming blue eyes and was dressed in a simple dress or as simple s noble's dresses get that reached her ankles. She thought she had imagined her as when she blinked twice, the woman was gone.

She turned her attention back to Piper who engulfed her in a bone crushing hug, the moment their eyes met. She was sobbing now while Annabeth struggled to breathe.

"Pipes, you're crushing me."

After this, Piper loosened her grip on her but still didn't let do, sobbing on her shoulder. "You got me worried, Annie. I thought you'll die and I was scared that I'd lose my only friend. Heck, you're a lot more than my best friend. Don't do this. Ever again."

Annabeth smiled. This time she didn't reprimand Piper for calling her Annie. This time, maybe waking up wasn't so bad after all.

 **xx-xx**

Percy hurried into the conference room which was basically the rec room with chairs around the pool table and loads of snacks instead of pool balls on it. He had called a meeting to discuss the snippets of conversation he had eavesdropped on.

"Look who's here. Take a seat, Sleeping Beauty." Thalia said in her usual tone or at least the one she used around him which was basically a mix of sarcasm, sass, irritation and humour. Because she said that he had the ability to get on his nerves.

"Why did you call the meeting, Percy?" Jason asked. "I warn you, if it is about Thalia spreading rumours about your birthday, I have got my sword with me. Hurry up; I've got to meet Reyna in fifteen minutes. Reyna was Jason's best friend who was crushing on him since they were six and was extremely possessive of him. She was pretty, he guessed with long dark hair and dark eyes with pale skill and loads of ego.

"Are you two dating?" Leo asked him. He was a servant at Jason's place but was his partner in crime too. The guy looked more or less like a Latino elf. Unlike girls, men belonging to inferus community had a few rights and weren't exactly chosen.

"That's beyond the point." Jason said trying to change the topic which Percy was glad about. As juicy as that conversation was, it took hours to complete it. Last time they were planning Reyna's birthday party and the whole time was very conveniently given to this conversation and well that was one of the worst party's in the history of parties.

"So why are we here, Kelp Head?" Thalia asked. Just his extremely loving and courteous cousin.

"Dad's getting me an inferus." He said. "A female slave."

"How do you know?" Frank asked

"I may have eavesdropped."

Majority of the teenagers sighed.

"And?"Thalia asked him.

"I don't know." Percy said. The group was silent.

"Order her. Just don't be abusive or like those other guys, the other noble's children." Hazel said. She had been so quiet; Percy had almost forgotten she was there alone with her boyfriend Frank. They both were normal civilians and a part of their group.

"Hazel is right. Nothing to fret about, you idiot." Jason said. "That's all?"

"Yeah" Percy said sheepishly rubbing his neck.

"Now I know why Thalia calls you Kelp Head." Jason told him as the 'council' was dismissed.

 **xx-xx**

Remember how about four hundred words ago; Annabeth said that maybe waking up wasn't that bad after all. Well, she was WRONG. Completely and utterly wrong. About five minutes after she woke up, Piper was called back to work by the owner who said that she wanted to discuss an important matter with her. The said girl was gone for forty five minutes during which Annabeth pushed herself up on the bed and contemplated the last forty eight hours. She shuddered. Just thinking about that sent goosebumps up her arms and she had the sudden urge to scream and cry.

Piper arrived looking very tired. Annabeth raised an eyebrow to which she shrugged looking away. Annabeth frowned, her eyes narrow and Piper sighed. It was strange how they had full-fledged conversations and even arguments just by expressions.

"What is it, Pipes?" She asked the frustration evident in her voice.

"We're hired again." The one in question blurted out after thirty annoying seconds of silence.

"Together?"

"Yeah. Not exactly, though. By cousins who live together."

Annabeth nodded. Her reaction was completely different from what Piper had anticipated. Her face was empty of any emotion. Her eyes steely and lips pursed together. If there was an Olympic event for keeping a poker face, Annabeth would definitely win.

"When do we go?" She asked.

"In a week. Once you have recovered a bit." Piper said in a firm tone. The amount of arguing it had taken was immense, but finally the noble, Sally Jackson said a week was fine as it was her son's birthday that day. This though innocent infuriated piper. Now they were birthday gifts for some spoiled brats.

She didn't tell this to Annabeth but knowing her she would have speculated it just by looking at her. She was horrible at hiding emotions.

"You go rest. You need it, Piper." Annabeth said in a surprisingly gentle tone, one she used rarely.

"What about you?" Piper asked.

"I'll be fine. I'll be seventeen in two months, for Olympus's sake." Annabeth told her. Piper left the room leaving an Annabeth who was trying to make herself believe what she had made piper believe.

 _They'll be fine._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Meet and Greet**

Piper was worried. She wasn't the type of girl who'd fret over a broken heel, chipped nail polish, torn dresses or broken ankle, chapped lips or torn muscles, but with the situation at hand being worried was more than justified. The list of thing she was worried about kept on increasing with the first ten topics being:

She was being hired.

Annabeth had been acting different.

Someone was hiring her.

Annabeth wasn't the same.

She was being hired by someone.

Annabeth was hurt.

She was going to work at someone's place….. yet again.

Annabeth was distant.

Someone expected her to work for them.

She was worried about Annabeth.

So basically the list was like an active passive exercise of the sentences: Someone was hiring her and Annabeth had been distant recently. Both the reasons seemed to be valid enough for her to be worried.

The fact that someone was hiring her made her want to throw up. Also, the fact Annabeth was being hired with her, which usually consoled her, made her feel down as if a tight fist was sitting at the bottom of her stomach. The girl was in no position to work. Also she was acting different. She had never been the touchy-feely one with anyone but her, but now it was as if a simple handshake with anyone she wasn't acquainted with made her snappy and uneasy when she first woke up. She surely was warming up and that made her distant.

All these thoughts swirled around in her mind as she left her dormitory which was a little overrated if you ask her. All it had was ten beds which not to mention were very uncomfortable, a tube light, one fan and five rundown cabinets along with a dingy bathroom. That was it. She wasn't really fond of that room even after spending majority of her small, miserable life in it.

"Piper. Wait up." Annabeth came up behind her. "I've been calling you for five minutes. You fine?"

"Yeah" Piper said. "You aren't allowed to be out of bed, Ms. Annabeth." She didn't know her Annabeth's last name. Even she herself didn't know about it.

Annabeth shook her head smiling. It was strange. One moment, Piper is going psycho thinking about her being distant, not to mention sick and the other moment, the girl herself is catching up with her looking all cheerful and chivalrous.

"Are you fine? You don't have a concussion. Do you?" Piper asked not really joking but she wasn't joking either. "Please say you didn't bang your head somewhere. The present injuries are more than enough."

"Shut up, Pipes." The blonde said.

"But seriously, what happened?"

At this question, the playful smile on her lips disappeared and she led her friend to the dining hall.

"I'm sorry" She said out of the blue.

"What for?" Piper asked her. She had a way with words whether it be charmspeaking- as Annabeth called it or deciphering undertones but this sudden apology confused her. If anyone had to apologize, it should've been her – for not being there…for leaving her there with a lunatic; Annabeth shouldn't be apologizing.

"For being distant. I know you been worried out of your mind the past four days and I've been making it worse. Friends?" She ranted/ asked raising her hand for a handshake.

Instead of taking her hand, the former engulfed her in a huge hug. Annabeth stiffened for the fraction of a second soon relaxing in the embrace. She still was afraid of excessive physical contact but this was Piper. And that explained it all.

 **xx-xx**

"Percy, are you sure you want to do this. It's pretty dangerous." Jason asked as they sneaked in the orphanage.

"Is that the great fighter, Jason Grace speaking?" Percy asked hitting the soft spot.

"Go ahead." Jason said making his friend smirk in response.

They were sneaking in the orphanage to find the girl Percy's mom had hired. They hadn't got any particular reason. It was just plain curiosity.

"What's the plan Percy?" he asked as they stood at the back entrance of the mustard coloured building. They could have gone in saying that they were nobles, then the whole scenario of sneaking in could've been avoided but again if their parents came to know of it, they'd be in knee deep trouble.

"I don't have one." His cousin replied nonchalantly. Jason sighed.

"What are you going to do then?" he asked

"It's pretty simple. Go inside, see the girl who is being hired, flirt with her if she is pretty, look for any other cute chicks, come out alive. All in a day's time." Percy said. That guy was so very organised. "Let's go in."

"Yeah."

They entered the worn down building through the back doors entering a small kitchen garden. They then entered the hallways. Both of them were wearing hoods and sunglasses to conceal their identity. The attire surely earned them loads of amused stares if nothing else. They had decided on telling the girls that they were nobles roaming the place if anyone bothered to ask them but were not meeting the authorities as they were sure to ask them their identity which would certainly have them grounded for a minimum two months.

"The girl is pretty." Percy pointed out to a girl who was wearing a light dress. She had dark skin, high cheekbones and kaleidoscopic eyes which reflected the sunlight. She was a bit too skinny, if you ask him but that only added to the look.

"No kidding." Jason said as he looked at the girl in front of him. "Want to go?" he asked Percy.

"Yep." The guy said as they approached the girl who was walking out from what looked like a dormitory.

"Annie, apology accepted." She shouted out to someone inside the room.

"Don't call me Annie, Pipes" Came the reply.

 _Girls here have sweet voices._ Percy thought.

Stupid ADHD. He was getting distracted. He had go up to the girl, ask her if any of her friends had been hired recently, flirt a little and look for the hired one.

"Hey" he said as they approached the girl. She gave them a strange look. "What do you want?" she snapped.

 _Talk about courtesy._

"Calm down, lady. We wanted to ask whether any of you have been hired recently?" Percy said in a purposefully deep voice.

The girl took a step back before giving them another strange look. He couldn't blame her though. After all it didn't happen every day that two guys with masked faces come up and ask you whether any of your friends has been hired by someone.

The girl, pipes raised an eyebrow but said "I am."

The boys looked at each other and shared a smile.

"Who are you?" she asked them.

"We're looking for a servant." Jason said.

"Nobles?"

"Yeah" Percy said instantly regretting it seeing the look on her face change from curiosity to disgust and disdain. She started walking away but Jason grabbed her wrist.

"What?" She snapped.

"You're pretty, Pipes." He blurted out.

"It's Piper."

"Want to hang out?" Percy asked trying lighten the mood in his idiotic way. Piper looked at him, her face a mix of shock and disgust.

Big mistake.

"She doesn't have to." The same voice, Annie he speculated answered.

The girl came out from the dormitory and to say Percy was surprised was an understatement. The girl was even more beautiful than her friend with honey-blonde hair curled like that of a princess and stormy grey/silver eyes. She had a bandaged wrist and her white dress had a small red spot just above the waist which looked suspiciously like blood. Her high cheekbones gave her a regal look which made Percy want to apologize to her.

"And you are you?" he asked in the smoothest possible voice.

"None of your concern. But I wanted to make it clear that my friend will never hang out with some supercilious (look it up), pompous (look it up), imperious (look it up), overweening (look it up) and idiotic (you should know this one) noble." The blonde said making Piper smirk.

"Extremely courteous, aren't you?" Jason asked her raising an eyebrow leaving Percy to speculate the meaning of the extravagantly large words the blonde used.

"You can say that." The girl said as she and her friend walked off in the other direction leaving both the teenagers in the hallway with open mouths and a definitely better vocabulary.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

"Hey Perce, Jason" Thalia said as soon as they entered the place.

"Hey" they replied in sort of a monotone. The former laughed at their faces which resembled two puppies who had been reprimanded for playing in the mud.

"What happened?" Reyna asked as she stepped into the room "Why these two look like hamsters in a cage do and why Thalia is laughing?"

"Just got sassed by a girl whose name I don't know." Percy said. "She called us superlitio, impregnant and some other very large words like that." He said sending both the females in hysterics both at the situation and Percy's vocabulary.

"And what did you do?" Reyna asked him.

"Oh he, he did nothing at all. He stood and gaped at the girl opening and closing his mouth like a fish staring at her." Jason said making Percy twist his face in an expression close to a pout.

"Hey you can't blame me. She was pretty." Percy said. "You talk as if you weren't staring at Pipes."

"Piper." Jason corrected.

Reyna frowned and said "That's a strange name."

"Pretty nonetheless." Jason said completely oblivious to Reyna pursing her lips and raising her eyebrows.

"This reminds me that you, Percy have your birthday in 2 days time." Reyna said.

"How can that statement remind you of this?" Percy asked.

"Leave it… It just did."Reyna said.

"Shit!" Thalia said causing the other to look at her.

"What?" Jason asked.

"I won't be able to prank Percy anymore." She told him just to be interrupted by Leo who came and said, "We'll find another way."

What did the world have against him today?

 **xx-xx**

AFTER SIXTEEN YEARS OF EXISTENCE, THE ONLY THING SHE WAS HUNDRED PERCENT CERTAIN OF WAS THAT HER LIFE SUCKED.

She didn't need any further evidence, proof or whatever they used to come to a conclusion.

In fact if she got a drachma for every time she was able to give proof for this statement, she surely would have been richer than the whole nation combined.

And currently lying there on the hard mattress with rough white sheets and a comforted which provided no comfort partly due to it being as thin as a paper and partly due to the fact that it reeked of medicines, she got just another incident to add in her file of : 100000 Reasons Why Her Life Sucked.

Not that she maintained one; she could certainly live without recalling all those awful incidents.

She was in the infirmary, again. It had become her abode. Literally. Piper had told her that after she had told off the creepy guys, she left the scene and they met Connor who had sneaked in to deliver supplies. That guy was the reason they could manage living in this hellhole. He got them a whole lot of stuff and they paid him. She speculated that the even the authorities knew about him and his brother but they did nothing. Today he had gotten the two of them everything from chocolates to soap as sort of a compensation for what happened to them or mostly her without even taking the single penny and had then tried his hand at playfully flirting with them. Two most important things about Connor were that he was extremely clever with his hands (keep one hand on your wallet when you're near him.) and the other was that he was hopelessly horrible at flirting. Then, you can figure out how his attempt went.

She was getting distracted. The basic thing was that after they had laughed their butts off Connor hugged Piper and then engulfed her into one due to which she blacked out or so she was told and ended up waking in the ever so homely Infirmary.

"You surely gave him a scare." Piper had told her.

She was disgusted to say the least. Disgusted by her own weakness and inability to cope up. Piper had said that it was alright and it would be gone after some time had passed but the mere fact that she couldn't touch a person without having flashbacks or blacking out made her want to cry. And the fact that she wanted to cry made her want to strangle that guy and stab him with her knife until he died.

 _Calm down, Annabeth. Happy thoughts._

If it weren't for Piper arriving, she certainly would have been thrown out of the place for breaking things. The girl surely was her saviour.

"Hey Annie" She said.

"It's Annabeth."

"Whatever, Annie." Piper said making Annabeth sigh. _Some people never learn_.

"What happened to those guys?" Annabeth asked referring to the creeps with hoodies and sunglasses. Seriously, did they think they were in some 3rd grade spy movie?

"I don't know. Only the two of us saw them. Though, Tess said two guys going through the back entrance."

"Talk about weird." Annabeth said her expression morphing into one of confusion and slight disgust. They were hitting on a girl they had known for 65 seconds. The general bratty behaviour which both of them had had enough of.

"Tess told us to start packing." Piper blurted out suddenly after a minute of silence.

"What?" The blonde screamed. Forget what she said a minute ago about Piper improving her mood.

"Tess told us to start packing." She explained slowly as if talking to a four year old.

"I understood that, Pipes. I meant that why do we…-leave it." Annabeth said, the frustration evident in her voice. The ghost of a smile played at Pipers lips when she saw the sharp-tongued, witty girl at a loss of words for once.

"On a better note. I will do it for you." Piper said despite knowing that Annabeth liked fight her own battles or in this case do her own work.

"Piper" she said her tone a bit threatening.

"I left you alone. I can do this much can't I?" Piper said. Annabeth's face softened visibly.

"It was not fault." She told her.

"I'm still packing for you."

Annabeth nodded partly because of those puppy eyes and partly because packing with a sprained wrist would be difficult.

"But why? Didn't we have two days? She asked.

"You were out for a day."

"Oh" Annabeth said "Can I get out of here now?"

"Umm… You can" Piper said.

"Thanks" and with she leaped out of the bed, if it could be called that and went towards the garden with piper on her tail to make the best of the one day they had.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **(Thoughts are in italics.)**

"In here, NOW" A shrill voice shouted. Actually the word shrill was too mild for the voice. The voice was so high pitched that it was a surprise the building had any glass left which did not consist of a varying number of cracks.

It was quite evident what a wonderful wake-up call the voice would make (Note the sarcasm). And this was the exact wake up call, Annabeth received on the morning of 18th August. Whether it could be called a morning or not, she wasn't sure. The sun wasn't even up as it was barely past 3:30 in the morning. It was dark, not that she minded and the whole place had a gloomy demeanour. And then there your majesty shrieking like there was no tomorrow. Another great way to start your day, or night.

The woman had herself made an appearance in the infirmary at five past three to wake her up. For what, she had no idea. She was in the infirmary which meant she was not all that healthy and shouldn't the sick be well rested? Not that anyone over here cared except for a few friends and Thea was surely not one of them.

The lady, then, had asked her to get dressed and meet her in the office. It was not Annabeth's fault that she had fallen asleep on of the chairs outside. A person was bound to get drowsy if you wake her up at three in the night and ask her to sit idle in a chair for twenty minutes for you are too busy doing something inside the room.

So here she was, getting her eardrums busted as she woke up groggily her neck stiff from sleeping on the chair. She stretched her sore body just to have a sudden jolt of pain rise up her wrist, entered the room and found Thea sitting on one of the couches.

Thea was a middle-aged lady in her late forties and was the caretaker of this orphanage. The stereotypical caretaker has warm eyes, a plump figure, lips with a grin playing on them and basically a very welcoming personality. Thea was the polar opposite and that was putting it mildly. She had a bob of brown, slightly reddish hair along with black eyes that put to light the harshness of her personality. Her thin lips were always in a straight line and she radiated sheer coldness. She was the split image of the stereotypical old lady who made children cry in the park. She defined the word malicious. It was almost ironic how she had to take care of girls who needed just a bit of care and love while all she gave was bitterness.

Annabeth sat in front of her, the very existence of a couch making her want to sleep but one look into Thea's eyes she knew this was serious stuff.

"Annabeth." She said in a voice she assumed would be used by a judge when talking to a person guilty of mass murder. She knew that due to her full bookshelf which basically was the space under her and Piper's bunk. "I need to speak to you" She continued.

 _Gee, I could never have guessed that._

She nodded, staying quiet letting Thea continue whatever she was going to say.

"I have seen that your work in the past has been quite disappointing to say the least. You have been expelled from three households. Sir Ethan called in the morning."

Annabeth visibly paled at that.

"However you aren't going back to him because of a new employer. Though you should be grateful that you got one after your past performance." She continued only to be cut off by Annabeth

"It wasn't my fault that the guy decided to abuse me that too sexually." She said choosing her words carefully.

"You were his servant." Thea said in a menacing voice

"That never gave him the right." Annabeth said emphasizing each and every syllable.

"This is Exactly What I am Talking About." The brunette shrieked while Annabeth noted how she had to ask Travis or Connor to bring her a hearing aid. Talk about being subtle.

"Why am I here?" Annabeth asked calmly, the glare directed at her no longer affecting her. If there was one thing she was certain about, it was that the only way chaos could be avoided would be by lowering her voice yet not backing out.

"Well, I called you to tell you that if you are expelled out of this project too, then you would be severely punished-"

"I don't care." Annabeth said with a bitter laugh.

"Let me finish myself. You would be punished along with the frail little friend of yours. Now leave."

The lady was intelligent. Annabeth had to grant her that much credit. She walked out of the room in a daze walking to her dormitory instead of the infirmary and tried to fall asleep. It was funny how all she wanted was to sleep fifteen minutes ago and now, she couldn't.

Thea just gave her another way to wake up: Tell you are a threat to your best friend's safety. And that was a worse way to keep you awake instead of her painfully high voice.

 **Percy's POV(Yeah. This is in first person)**

The party was great. Nothing I hadn't experienced before but still the fact that people loved me enough to take the trouble of setting up a whole party for plain old me(I don't have self esteem issues. I become humble at times like this.) made me grin wider than the Cheshire Cat. I am no fan of parties with music so loud that you couldn't hear each-other, with fountains overflowing with drinks which sometimes- scratch that- most of the times were spiked and with people you didn't even know asking you to dance with you. Instead I am fond of small gatherings where there were people I KNOW. Not people whom my mother, father, aunt, uncle, cousin, second cousin, distant friends know. Another thing I wanted was for the party to be cosy and comfortable.

Hazel and Thalia surely seemed to understand this as this seventeenth birthday party was exactly fitted in the latter category. Most of my friends were present and to top it off, there was a blue cake his Mom made me.

 _Life seemed to be pretty good._ That was all that ran through my mind as I stood in front of the family garden littered with snack counters, a gazebo and his friends. It was four or five in the evening, he couldn't care less though there was a small voice in the back of my head that put me on alert for the night when I had to meet my 'personal caretaker'. Maybe it was because the caretaker was most probably Piper, I was quite uneasy with the idea. The conversation I had had with mom and dad went something like:

 _Dad: Perseus, you know why you're here?_

 _Me: No? (Telling dad I had eavesdropped wouldn't be a really nice idea for all I know.)_

 _Dad: You Percy are a grown up now. You must step up and take responsibilities…blah blah blah (I zoned out during this.) So, we've decided to get you a caretaker from the local facility._

 _Dad was good with words._

 _Me: Why are you telling me this?_

 _Mom: because Percy it is you who is getting a caretaker. You must be on your best behaviour and not act like a jerk. You know what happened at Ethan's. Do you?_

 _Me: Yes._

 _Dad: Percy, you are going to respect the girl and treat her with respect and not get all moody you often do. Do not put me to shame. Understand?_

 _Me: I won't. Father_

 _Believe me, that was Awkward with a capital A. I mean did they really think I'll ever droop as low as that silly excuse for a guy. I won't even dream of doing something like that._

"Percy. You there?" Jason asked me out of my reverie.

"Yeah" I told him offhandedly. I mean, couldn't a guy think in peace?

"Percy, Jason. Over here" Calypso shouted from the garden breaking the awkward silence that had fallen upon the both of us.

She was beautiful, I had to grant her that much. With dark hair falling over her shoulders, almond shaped brown eyes, olive skin and the frame frail, she certainly looked quite angelic but there was or rather there wasn't anything between us except for the label that said that we were in a relationship.

We are just so different. And the attraction had died long ago but still it was better than anything. Plus she's quite a good kisser, if I say so myself.

 **xx-xx**

The rest of the party passed away in a blur. It was dancing, eating, singing, dancing and repeat. I looked at the clock to see it was half past ten. Everyone but the family had left. Only Jason, mom, dad and Tyson were there. Thalia had left with Reyna to discuss something or the other but the guys knew them well enough to be on alert for the next few days. If one thing I had learned in the five years I'd known Reyna for, it was that SHE WAS DANGEROUS (and extremely possessive of Jason.)

And so here we were, in the car with Mom and Dad in the front and me and Jason in the back. Tyson was asleep at the house. Jason was quite jittery as mom and dad had told him that even he was getting a caretaker. He had gotten the same pep talk as me resulting in him spitting out his coke thrice which would've been quite funny if he hadn't spit it on me.

We finally reached the shabby building and met up with a lady called Thea who spent about twenty minutes telling us her biography with special emphasis on the achievements page which was really, very, very repetitive.

Then to top it off, the girls were fifteen minutes late which resulted in another monologue about the history of her family.

Finally, a girl made her way out of the building and whispered something to Thea causing her to scowl which made her look quite funny.

The girl fortunately was Piper. She was dressed in a plain cotton dress similar to the one she wore that day. Thea left with my parents to do some paperwork and Piper curtsied and then went on to introduce herself. He noticed that she looked a tired and her voice had a slight bitterness to it which was justified.

"I'm Percy and I guess you'll be my new caretaker." I said extending my hand which she hesitantly shook. The girl should understand that I don't bite.

"Actually, I'm here for someone called Jason which I assume is you" she said pointed at my cousin who looked shocked to put it mildly.

"What about me then?" I asked just to be cut off by a girl around my age running over to us and coming to stand besides Piper.

"I'm Annabeth" she said in a monotone as if she had rehearsed it over and over again yet the tinge of bitterness and disdain peeked out from under the flat tone.

With a start I realised she was the same blonde who had told me off that day.

"Hello." He said raising his hand for a polite handshake. She, however made no attempt to return it and instead looked at my hand like it was the plague. For a second, a look of fear crossed her face but it could've been my imagination for all I know.

"Too good for me. Aren't you?"

She just looked down and pursed her lips.

Well, I'm in for a wild ride for all I know.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Out of all those varied adjectives that existed in this world, Awkward was the most appropriate one to describe his situation, not that he knew many unlike the blonde sitting in front of him. Jason was shamelessly staring at Piper or he could be staring ahead for all he knew while the said girl sat with Annabeth and seemed to be having a mental conversation with their eyes. He hated it when people did that.

His best guess was that the girls were sizing them up but they could be thinking about battle strategies or what they would like for breakfast for all he knew.

All the people in the car were silent. The driver was sitting in the front his eyes on the road while the girls were done with the small talking-with-eyes thing and now we're staring out of the window. His mom and dad had decided to take another car as they were leaving for a meet with Malcolm, a guy around nineteen who was enormously successful. He knew there was something going on. Something related to the overthrow of the current system in which his parents were involved. What it was, he didn't know?

One thing he noticed about both the girls except for the fact that they were extremely pretty were the strange pendants both of them wore. They were unique and not something you would expect an orphan to possess.

Piper's pendant looked something calypso would possess; not her. It was really feminine, for the lack of a better term. It had two pink feathers with a small dove peaking out. The dove though small was built intricately with beautifully carved wings and onyx eyes.

Annabeth's was different with an owl with two sapphires for eyes. It puzzled him as owls usually had large silvery eyes however this one had sea green ones. It was strange yet beautiful. The owl's wings were spread and it was the same silver as the girl's eyes.

And that particular second Annabeth decided to look at him. She scoffed. Obviously, from her point of view it would seem that he was checking her out. Why else would a guy be staring at a girl's chest? Well…

And that, kids, is why he hated ADHD.

But the fact that he hated it didn't stop it from acting up as he started looking around one again. This time what caught his attention was her bandaged wrist though. He looked up to see that she was on the verge of falling asleep while Jason and Piper had already had. This gave him an opportunity to observe her. Apart from the bandaged wrist, her lower leg also had a deep cut which was not bandaged and the way she winced whenever the car jerked, she seemed to have an injury near her waist. Her face was beautiful in an angelic way. Even prettier than Calypso. Her nose was sharp and long while her full lips were chapped maybe from biting them. Her blonde hair was in a messy bun while some curly strands managed to escape and frame her face. They were not the usual blond but had a tinge of gold to them like honey.

And yet again, that was the moment she decided to open her eyes just to meet his sea green ones. She gave him a disgusted once-over before looking out of the window and falling asleep.

The rest of the journey, he didn't even look at her and instead focused his attention on the small stains on the car-seat, the small crack on the glass of the backseat and the threads of his blue shirt.

 **xx-xx**

Annabeth woke up with a start as the car came to a halt. Seriously, why was the world so against her sleeping?

She got out of the car to enter the manor while fingering her necklace. It was of great significance to her maybe because it was the last thing she had that reminded her of her unknown parents. It had become a habit recently. She fingered it whenever she was nervous or agitated.

One look at the manor was enough to startle Annabeth. It was beautifully made with large windows and marble columns. It was as large as a small castle and was painted a beautiful white and had three storeys. The way the front arc was made, it might make the building weak, but the pillars made up for it.

The front lawns didn't disappoint either with large fountains and well trimmed plants. Fairy lights lit up a majority of the lawn and cold drink cans were littered around the place which indicated that a party had been held there.

They made it inside and the fact that she was astonished would be an understatement. She had recently finished high school courses and had taken architecture as a side subject after a lot of persuasion. She and Piper went in a nearby abandoned building where a man named Chiron taught them. And if one thing she was sure of was that she absolutely adored architecture.

A guy called Leo decided to guide them to their rooms where they would be living. Jason and his sister lived with their cousin as the atmosphere at their own house wasn't the best. Fortunately, the rooms were side by side.

Annabeth entered the room to find that a room better than any she had ever lived in. it was small and had a bed in the middle with a small cabinet and mirror. There was also a small desk in one corner and a closet on the other end with a few pair of clothes and uniform in it. She wasn't sure whether they were their size but knowing these people they had probably made it according to her size. So much money to spare…..

She decided to analyse the room further tomorrow and collapsed on the bed falling asleep instantly.

 **xx-xx**

Percy woke up to light knocking on his door. He closed his eyes burying his face into his pillow trying to drown out the knocking not wanting to wake up yet with an emphasis on NOT. The knocking continued not getting any louder but picking up speed as if the person knocking was getting frustrated. He picked up his head from the pillow and muttered a groggy "come in".

Annabeth entered the room, her face void of any motion. Percy looked up to see that she was wearing a light blue cotton dress with sleeves that went a little below her shoulder and the bottom gently brushed her knees. She was carrying breakfast by the looks of it.

He threw off the blankets and sat up taking in her form.

"What are you doing here?" He asked

"I brought breakfast." She said.

"Oh" _Awesome way to start a conversation._

"You like the place?" He asked wanting to befriend the girl. If she was his caretaker, they had to spend a lot of time together.

"Yes. The architecture is really good however the arch in the front weakens the structure." She said her tone a tad gentler than it had been before. He sat up and went over to the table where she had set the meal. Seeing that she was not in the mood of telling him off or killing him, he decided to ask what had intrigued him about her.

"Why is your wrist bandaged?" he asked her. Though innocent, the question managed to bring back the guarded expression on her face.

"It is none of your business." She said her voice the same harsh tone it was when they had first met.

"I was just asking" Percy said raising his hands in surrender. "Also, why didn't you shake my hand yesterday? You don't seem like the person with a social anxiety."

 _Wrong. Move._

Annabeth hastily set the rest of the cutlery on the table and stood up ready to leave.

"I'll be back when you finish eating"

What happened next shocked even him, himself.

Percy didn't know what came over him at that time. Maybe he wasn't used to people shutting him out or maybe he was intrigued by this girl or it was just plain curiosity. It could've also been the fact that this girl had puzzled and aggravated him or simply insulted him.

But he grabbed her wrist and pulled her so that her she was close to him almost at an uncomfortable distance and used his other hand to raise her face by the chin. "Don't ignore me."

 _Another. Wrong. Move._

The events that took place next were like a comedy of errors… except for the fact that there was nothing funny.

Her breath hitched and her calm grey eyes held a look of panic in them. He looked as if she would pass out any second. Looking at her state, Percy realised his mistake and left Annabeth who stumbled for a second.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…" He whispered and kept a hand on her waist to steady her making her wince.

She smacked his hand away pushing him off making him collide with the table. She realised what had just happened and what she had done and muttered something along the lines of don't ever touch me before leaving the room.

Percy was shocked.

And that summed it up. No girl and no girl did that. He knew it was his fault but she didn't have to push him like that after he had apologized. He rubbed his knee where the table had hit him.

 _If she was going to be all rude and aloof, Well… two can play this game._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Cool. That was the only word you could use to describe him. That too, not the I'm so awesome type of cool. He was the cold type of cool. Ugh. Now he was messing with her vocabulary too.

But basically, he was all aloof and rude and whatnot. When she came into his room later in the afternoon successfully avoiding him in the morning by sending Piper, he seemed or rather behaved like a different person. Not that Annabeth was the one to judge considering the fact that she had met him only 18 hours ago.

There was a certain maliciousness in his behaviour which made her shiver though she wasn't sure that she had judged him right.

She had just entered the room to see him looking like he had just bathed with his dark hair drenched and falling in his eyes, his blue tee shirt wet and stuck to his body highlighting his athletic frame and a towel around his neck. He looked over at her standing in the doorway, his face void of any emotion and said in a stony voice: "Just make the bed for now. Also dust my bookshelf."

He didn't seem to be affected by what happened this morning. She was perfectly fine with this. She really was.

Until and unless, he stayed out of her way, she was happy. Though she was a bit confused as to where the bookshelf was, maybe because out of the many shelves present in the room none of them had any books in them. Well, one of them did but it was really small and the only books it had were a few high school course books she had completed about two three years ago. Nonetheless, she made his bed (at three in the afternoon?) and dusted that silly excuse for a bookshelf efficiently, she had been trained to do this since what seemed like forever, not that she liked it. While she was working, Percy sat and observed her almost surprised at her agility and the grace which was certainly something he didn't anticipate seeing her status but somehow expected knowing what he did about her.

After staring, or rather observing to put it in a subtle way, Percy returned to his algebra homework. He wanted to be something like a knight or an officer or something so the point of what was the value of x when y/x was the cube root of xy was something he couldn't understand.

He groaned, frustrated by the sheer sight of his notebook, gaining unnecessary attention from Annabeth who was about to leave the room. Without meaning to, he just looked at her and blurted out:

"Algebra's a bitch."

The blonde just shook her head in disapproval before raising an eyebrow. "You're just being lazy. It isn't that difficult. Let me help you." It was clear that she was trying to make up for what happened that morning.

"As if you would know. You probably haven't seen a book in your life, apart from those on cooking even though I doubt you could read." He told her, his tone purposefully malicious. However, he knew he had messed up again as soon as he saw her eyes harden.

He expected her to hit him or throw a vase at him or shout her head off, but instead she said "Really?" and took a spare pen and solved the whole friggin equation before him in half a minute before looking at him. "I've finished my high school courses."

To say he was shocked would be an understatement. With the number of times she had surprised him in the past 18 hours, even if she told him that she had kicked Saturn, the king in the groin, he wouldn't be surprised.

Being surprised as he was, he just raised a cocky eyebrow and said "How do I know it is correct?"

"Put the values and check it, Smartie." Her tone had become playful now, partly because she knew she was in her home turf though there still was an edge to it.

"Don't sass me, Lady. I'm much tougher than you." His tone was the same except for the fact that the edge was missing.

"Leave it. I don't want to speak with a guy whose most severe injury is a paper cut." She smirked.

"Hey"

"Oh sorry! I forgot you didn't read books." She said before she left taking the small duster with her. Even though his intellect was being insulted, he still was glad that the ice had broken not because he liked her or something, it was too early and he had a girlfriend but he couldn't deny that that particular girl was pretty beautiful.

Walking back in the garden to help Piper and Katie, another girl who worked there with the flowers, Annabeth saw a flash of blonde much like her own. The blond guy was in a seemingly deep conversation with Percy. Though curious, Annabeth decided to leave and started to water the plants listening to Katie blabber about the different type of flowers. Another girl was there too. She had chocolate brown hair and almond shaped eyes and was dressed in a cream coloured dress that Annabeth thought was too fancy for gardening. Her name was Calypso, she guessed partly because Katie addressed her around 3 times a sentence as she was the only one listening. Despite the slight air of conceit around her, she still seemed interested in gardening.

After about fifteen minutes of work, Annabeth and piper managed to leave the place and started heading back into the manor. They were halfway through the huge garden when they passed the guys who still were talking about talking something however both of them were much more relaxed than they had been before.

Suddenly the blond guy turned to go and faced Annabeth when his eyes widened in shock.

"Malcolm?" Percy asked slightly confused as to why had his body stiffened so much in the fraction of a second within seeing Annabeth.

"What are you doing here?" He asked Annabeth ignoring him completely taking her necklace into his hand and dropping it in shock just staring at Annabeth as if she was a ghost.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Walking back from the garden, Piper had to keep Annabeth from bumping face first into one of those pillars. She had her thinking face on with her eyes several shades darker than the usual grey and she could literally see her brain running at a thousand miles per minute. This probably was the only time when she started acting like a total scatter brain.

However she even couldn't keep herself from thinking about what had happened about five minutes ago in the garden.

" _What are you doing here?" The blonde guy whose name Piper assumed was Malcolm asked Annabeth his eyes wide and the same shade as the latter's did whenever she was shocked. He took Annabeth's necklace in her hand making her step back and observed it before dropping it. She couldn't help but see how similar their eyes' were- the same deep grey and how they had darkened over the past minute. His hair though was much lighter than Annabeth's._

" _What do you mean?" Annabeth asked in a tone which might seem void of emotion to anyone but Piper could hear the confusion. She had her hand on her necklace now shielding it from both the boys' eyes._

 _Percy's expression mirrored her own confused one as both of the blonds stared at each other with the same eyes sizing each other up._

" _Nothing. You just surprised me." Malcolm said looking like someone had shocked him with a taser. And with that he walked away with Percy behind him, leaving behind an extremely confused Annabeth_

It took her a moment to realise that she had zoned out on Annabeth who now was talking to her. "…looking at my necklace like that. This has to come in the Top Three Strange Things that have happened this year."

"You know most people are surprised by these necklaces, for the lack of a better term." She told her. It was true, people tended to stare at the only pieces of jewellery the girls owned which was justified, though she had this gut feeling that told her that this blond guy wasn't just surprised by how beautiful the pendants were, partly because he just looked at Annabeth's necklace.

"Maybe..."

"I'll leave now. Got to go for some evening tea or stuff I've got to deliver." And with that piper left Annabeth going to the kitchen and picking up the plate of scones and chamomile tea (formal much?) for Jason and then heading to his bedroom.

She knocked twice before entering the room just to find Jason lying face on the bed with his back facing her. She slightly nudged his shoulder trying to wake him up but as luck would have it, he was a deep sleeper which meant light nudges weren't enough to wake him up. Seeing the guy wasn't going to be up anytime soon, she placed one hand on his back and started shaking him causing him groan muttering about how cruel she was being. They were pretty good friends despite the fact that they hadn't even known each other for a week.

He had blond hair which were much lighter than Annabeth and blue eyes that seemed to have liquid electricity running through them. He was more built than Percy with broader shoulders and a heavier frame while the former was more on the leaner side.

Jason, to her seemed like a more calm and toned down version of Annabeth when it came to all their nature. He was usually calm and seemed like a natural leader to her. Another thing about him was his properness, if that is a word. He was always prim and proper which might have been irritating for some but for him it was just downright cute.

She continued to shake him until he finally turned over and muttered in a dazed voice, "You look cute with that persistent look on face".

At that moment, she was more than certain that her face resembled a beetroot with brown braids. The fact that he was lying on the bed without a shirt with a goofy grin on his face wasn't helping in the least.

"Well, you seem to be in a good mood today." She said in a smug voice. These were the times when she thanked the gods for her convincing voice. Stuttering in front of him wasn't exactly high on the list of things she wanted to do. "Get up and have tea!"

"As you wish, Milady." He said his tone reflecting her smug one.

"How do you drink chamomile tea? I never liked it." She blurted out watching him take a sip from the white cup. He looked up, amusement clear in his eyes as he said, "What do you like then?"

"Hot chocolate."

He chuckled shaking his head in an adorable manner while raising an eyebrow, "You're such a kid."

At this statement, Piper crossed her arms over her chest. "Hot chocolate is not for kids. Chocolate is universal. And you sir are ruining your youth both due the lack of chocolate and induction of this horrible tea."

"Really? What did my poor tea due to you?" He said attempting to speak in a whiny voice and failing miserably at it. He was a horrible actor. "Come try it."

Now she was confused between scrunching her face in disgust at the thought of tasting tea or blushing because he wanted to share his tea cup with him, as elementary as it sounded. So, she decided not to do say anything witty or anything at all and take a step towards the boy in front of him holding out jis tea cup.

She sat down on his bed and took the cup from his hand taking a small sip from it keeping the cup back and frowning deeply.

"Absolutely horrible." She said scrunching up her face in disgust.

"I shared my tea with you and this is how you respond?" He whined.

"Still horrible."

He frowned at her before breaking a small part of his scone and dipping it in his tea laughing at Piper's surprised expression offering it to her who very hesitantly took it in her mouth before spitting it out in a very unladylike way, looking at him in a disapproving way and saying "Still horrible."

 **The Next Day**

Today was certainly not a good day for Percy. It was one of those days when everything, every single friggin' thing started going wrong.

He hadn't slept thinking about Malcolm's behaviour the day before and about how baffled he seemed after meeting Annabeth. He had known the guy for about two hours but he could see the shock and worry that flashed through his face as he set his eyes on the necklace and the girl herself.

And when finally he slept, he was woken up by Chiron, his instructor for some morning classes. He wasn't sure about Chiron, but to him four in the morning wasn't the best time to practice combat or study equations or science. Nonetheless, he attended the class which to his immense pleasure was archery. What was the point of going in the woods to shoot targets with an arrow at four in the morning, he had no friggin' idea.

The class ended at seven in the morning and what seemed like an eternity of missing targets. Once he even shot an arrow that barely missed Clarisse which resulted in a heated wresting match which he was about to lose but fortunately Chiron saved his honour.

He went back to bed and had barely had an hour of sleep when he got a call from a Calypso who had called him to a party which he did NOT want to attend mostly because of the huge head ache he had, so he refused which resulted in a long rant from her. Then his mother asked him whether he could Tyson to the theatre that and he refused saying that he had plans for the night. It wasn't that he had anything against the little guy; it was just that he wasn't fond of the idea of taking a hyperactive nine year old to the theatre. So, he had to call Calypso to tell her that he was coming which resulted in another long rant from her, though this time it was happier.

 **xx-xx (After the Party)**

Clutching his wounded arm, Percy climbed the impossibly long flight of stairs to his room thankful for the fact that no one was awake or else he knew he would be in deep trouble. Blood seeped out from the wound which extended from his bicep to a little lower than his elbow on his right hand. A few shards of glass were still buried in it; he could tell that much. And it ached an awfully lot. His headache was worse than ever and he knew he would wake up with a fever tomorrow. All. Because. Of. A. Party.

He knew he shouldn't have attended the moment he stepped in. he didn't know half the people and out of those he knew ninety nine percent were drunk. So when a guy who was very drunk kissed his very drunken girlfriend, he being the ADHD youth picked a fight with him which resulted in the guy wounding his arm with a beer bottle, a broken nose and jaw for the said guy and a single Calypso.

He had made it to the top of the staircase and was about to enter his room, the very thought of his bed making his eyes heavy when he was interrupted by quite a loud gasp.

 _Please don't let it be mom._ He thought as he turned to come face to face with none other than Annabeth herself who stood there in a light blue cotton dress; her gray eyes wide and lips parted with blonde curls spilling over her shoulders reaching the small of her back.

"Are you okay?" She asked him following him in his room standing in front of him and he sat on the bed ready to pass out.

"That is one very silly question." He croaked. Injured or not injured. He was Percy Jackson and he a reputation to uphold, after all.

She sighed before going in the bathroom and coming out with a first aid kit and setting it in front of him as if she expected the bottle of antiseptic, needle, gauze and stitching thread to come out of the box and heal him like in one of those cartoons. She looked at his wound as if wondering whether to touch and examine it or not. She decided on No and went towards the telephone, most probably to call the doctor. He tried to at least position himself properly but it wasn't possible if he did it himself mostly due to the fact that his right arm was killing him. He looked at Annabeth imploringly but she just ignored him talking with the doctor urging him to come and turning her back to him. One thing he had noticed about her was that she didn't like to touch people. It was more than obvious now that he had observed her. He didn't know why, but that troubled him to some extent.

She groaned as more blood seeped out of the wound staining his bed sheet and comforter. He looked at Annabeth again to her looking at him with a poker face.

"A little help?" he asked her.

She nodded before she realised that to help him meant her supporting his weight and hoisting him up the bed all while grabbing his torso.

"Man up." She said though even she winced when he tried to.

"Says the one who is too afraid to come in physical contact with anyone." Apparently being sick removed his filter.

"I do not." She said looking ready to wound his other arm if necessary.

"Admit it. You're a coward."

"I'm not." Her glare was even more intimidating than Thalia's and that is saying something.

"Whom are you kidding?" she stayed silent so he continued on with his malicious rant despite the small voice inside his telling him to stop. "Is little miss Annabeth too scared that I'll hurt her."

After he said that, he could just watch as he came up to him and grabbed his torso and gently hoisted him up the bed before looking him in the eye.

"Don't speak about things you have no idea about, _Mr. Jackson."_ She told him saying his last name with a strong sense of bitterness and an undertone of hurt as if she would start tearing up any second.

"Um-I..I…ac-actually" He stuttered not sure of what to say seeing that indeed the girl had a lone tear running down her face.

She didn't say anything and instead picked up the first aid kid and gestured for him to hold out his arm. She took some antiseptic and cotton and cleaned his wound with it making him wince; not bothering about how it turned the light blue fabric of her skirt red. She then went on and took out a pair of tweezers and removed a couple of shards impaled in his arm. Hearing the telephone ring she got up and attended it speaking for half a minute before setting it back down and walking towards the door.

"The doctor is here." She said in a small voice probably embarrassed about how she had shown weakness in front of him.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking straight and never meant to say all that shit. I know I was wrong. Forgive me?" He blurted out making her face him. She didn't say anything but he could have sworn he say a ghost of a smile play on her lips before she left.

 **xx-xx**

Annabeth was back in a minute with Dr. Fletcher and there she was standing at the back of the room while he stitched his wound. Her blonde curls were now up in a messy bun and the dress she wore was now half red. She looked at him with utmost concentration despite the tired look in her eyes.

Thankfully, no one else knew about his condition or else he would have been in trouble.

"I've stitched it up and removed the glass. You'll have to get the stitches removed in about a week or two considering how fast it heals up. Also, you have fever with quite a high temperature though it is nothing serious. All you need now is rest." The doctor told him. He was pretty young for a doctor being in his late twenties and had dirty blond hair and warm brown eyes. He gave Annabeth a small piece of paper with the name of some medicines, he guessed, before leaving.

And that was all he saw before he passed out from sheer exhaustion.

 **xx-xx**

He woke up again around three in the night to a pounding skull and his whole left side aching. That is when he felt something cool on his forehead instantly making him calm down and the heaviness subside. He reluctantly opened his eyes taking some time to adjust to the soft yellow light that his night lamp provided just to see a mass of blonde curls in front of him.

He looked at Annabeth just to see that she had removed the washcloth from his forehead and was soaking it in the small mug of water she had, before placing it on his forehead again and taking out thermometer oblivious to the fact that he was awake now. He pretended to close his eyes and peaked as she turned to face him standing in front of him contemplating how to take his temperature.

She then kneeled besides his bed and gently placed a hand on his cheek trying to get the thermometer in his mouth without waking him up. He could feel how stiff her hand was on her cheek as if she would bolt away even at his slightest movement. He couldn't understand why her whole form was so tense; it wasn't that he was going to hurt her. He wasn't that type of guy. Maybe he had scared her the first day they met or had tried his hand at flirting with her best friend, but the seriously harming her: No Friggin' Way.

She finally succeeding with a bit of assistance from his side, though she didn't have to know it considering the fact that she would think of him as an (even bigger) creep with pretending to be asleep while awake thing he was doing.

After around half a minute she took it out of his mouth and sighed before placing the thermometer on his bedside table, dropping it (you can't expect a person to be wide awake at three in the morning or night, take your pick) and placing it back again. He heard her yawn and chose that moment to take a peek at her. She looked dead tired and ready to pass out. Her hair was in a really messy bun with half her hair falling out and framing her face. She had changed out of her blue dress and was now wearing a white dress. She went into the bathroom and came back with a mug of cold water (he knew it was cold because the washcloths were soaked in it and it made him shiver) and started with the washcloths again.

He passed out again and the next time he woke up, he was feeling much better. His head didn't hurt that much and the only pain he felt was mild throbbing in his arm. He didn't think he had a fever but wanting to make sure placed his hand on the bedside just to find the thermometer on the floor. It was around five in the morning and the sun wasn't fully up yet.

He smiled remembering last night. The girl had no liability towards him but what she did yesterday surprised him and made him a lot more intrigued about her. He looked forward and smiled wider. There she was, blonde hair falling in a curtain over his face, eyes closed and expression peaceful curled up on his couch. Asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

When he next woke up, Annabeth wasn't there. Not that he expected her to be there but still there was this very small, irrational part of his brain that wanted her to be there. He looked at the wall clock to see it was eight in the morning. Three hours since he last woke up. He lifted his arm to rub his eyes but a sudden jolt of pain stopped him from doing so. Usually, he didn't wake up till nine and that too because he had classes but today had to be an exception. Partly because the fever, he suspected, wouldn't let him sleep and partly because he was in no conditions to shoot arrows.

'What am I going to tell Chiron? And mom?' he thought. One thing he was sure of was that he was in deep trouble.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when a knock resonated through the room. He knew it weren't his cousins who were knocking. They had developed a particular system of knocking when they were young. It wasn't his mother either. The lady never knocked despite the number of times he had told her to do so. And frankly, he didn't want anyone else there, so he did the natural thing to do and shouted; "Whoever you are, leave. I don't want you here." Call him rude, but migraines did that do people.

"Okay. I'll leave then." A female voice said from outside the door followed by the sound of retreating footprints. This made him sit upright faster than humanly possible and shout, "Annabeth, come back. It wasn't meant for you."

"You sure?" she answered, her voice sceptic.

"Just come in." He said.

A few seconds later the door to his room opened and Annabeth walked in. She seemed tired though. Very tired. Her usually bright eyes had huge bags under them and she looked like she would pass out on the floor on the first chance she got which was kind of obvious considering the fact that she had been up all night taking care of him. As comfortable as that couch looked he was sure that it hadn't offered a good night's sleep especially after _that_ amount of work.

All in all, he felt like a horrible person.

"How are you feeling on this exceptionally beautiful day?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Someone's sassy." He said trying to maintain a smug voice but failing due to his sore throat.

"I prefer sardonic but whatever floats your boat." She smiled wanly. "But seriously, how are you?"

"Fine, my arm's a bit sore and I have a huge migraine coming on but that's about it. Though it is you who looks like you were run over by a truck." He told her.

"Now that you've showered me with compliments. How about some breakfast?" She pointed at the trolley she had brought in. He expected to see bacon and glass of orange juice in it but a single, very large bowl of soup greeted him.

He groaned. "One: Soup? Two: why are you so sarcastic?"

She smirked at him saying, "One: You need it. Two: A nine letter word. Keep it up."

He just smiled at her as she placed the plate besides his bed and turned to leave. He raised his hand trying to scoop us some broth but the sudden pain that seared his arm was more than enough to discourage him. She turned around hearing his sigh of discomfort and said, "Please don't say that you can't feed yourself right now."

"Well, if you are feeling generous…"

"Please no." she whined. It was nice, Percy decided, when she acted like a child. Sixteen wasn't a big number after all.

"We wouldn't want me to be starved. Would we now?" He asked her as she came up to him sitting at the edge of his bed, Very Cautiously, he might add.

Jokes apart, he couldn't help but notice how she was as stiff a board whenever she came near him. She picked up the spoon and scooped up some of what he assumed was chicken soup before feeding her to him with shaky hands spilling some of the very hot liquid over the sheets and his shoulder making him grimace. She sighed in an exasperated manner before standing up and storming out of the room.

To say he was confused would be an understatement.

However, she entered a couple of minutes later with a straw. She put it in the bowl ignoring his incredulous look before turning to him and saying, "Eat it yourself."

She came back to collect his plates in half an hour which was way too long according to him. His mom had come to see him telling him about how Annabeth had told him of how he had hurt himself while archery and had a fever. She then went on to tell him what an angel the girl was and a part of him couldn't help but agree.

And now here he was staring at her blonde ponytail as she looked at the books in his room, dusting them and occasionally reading a summary or two.

"Hey."

No response

"Annabeth!"

Nothing.

"Beth!"

Still nothing.

"Annie."

"Don't call me Annie." She turned to face him with a glare.

 _At least, he now knew how to get her attention._

"I'm bored." He whined.

"Did you tell your teacher that you aren't attending classes today?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow to which he just shrugged and said "I'm injured."

"Okay, then Crippled. Who is your teacher?"

"Crippled?" he asked her with a mock glare.

"Yes, crippled. You didn't answer my question though."

"Chiron. He teaches me." He said slightly confused by the suspicious look she gave him or the way she bit her lip as if contemplating something. "Something happened?"

"No. It is just that he taught me as well." She told him.

"Really?" To him it was strange if not anything else.

"Really." She confirmed. "I'll tell him. Haven't seen him in more than a year now."

"Okay." He shrugged watching as she left the room and waiting for her to come back.

~oOoOoOo~

Annabeth smiled as Percy opened the door to his _carriage_ for the day which was nothing but a small horse cart with net curtains. She had asked him why he didn't want to take the car to which he said that he wanted her to have the real experience of touring the town's high market.

Despite the fact that his arm was still covered in bandages and he had a mild fever and a huge migraine, he had insisted that they come to the market as he was getting bored.

So here they were sitting in a horse cart, which were pretty popular she had learned, him looking like a five year old on Christmas in the body of a seventeen year old. An extremely attractive sixteen year old if talking about technicalities.

They made their way inside the theatre which had a romance cum tragedy play going on. She had to grab Percy's good arm to keep him from falling which somehow made his cheeks turn red. Or maybe it was just the lighting. She'll never know.

The play was boring to say the least. More boring than sitting in a white room and staring at a wall for three hours straight. Halfway through it, Percy leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Wanna ditch?"

She looked at the stage where the leading lady sat on the stage bawling her eyes out over the fact that her husband hadn't returned yet and then at Percy who had his green eyes sparkling and was rubbing his neck staring questioningly at her.

"Yes, please." She told him.

He smiled at her getting up from his chair and said, "After you, my lady."

They exited the theatre with him lightly holding her wrist when a voice behind them said, "Well, look who I found today?"

All the colour drained from her face as she recognised the gruff, husky voice that had haunted her sleep for weeks now. The guy walked in front of the two of them and coming face to face with the same brown hair and dark eyes made Annabeth's knees go week. He smiled at her completely ignoring Percy. A cold, gruesome smiled that made her stomach go in knots. She barely registered Percy putting his arm around her waist and muttering her name trying to shake her out of her reverie. The need to pass out was too strong. She desperately hoped for some of the adrenalin from that night but luck wasn't at her side.

The man in front of her was Ethan Nakamura.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 _(Previously)_

 _All the colour drained from her face as she recognised the gruff, husky voice that had haunted her sleep for weeks now. The guy walked in front of the two of them and coming face to face with the same brown hair and dark eyes made Annabeth's knees go week. He smiled at her completely ignoring Percy. A cold, gruesome smiled that made her stomach go in knots. She barely registered Percy putting his arm around her waist and muttering her name trying to shake her out of her reverie. The need to pass out was too strong. She desperately hoped for some of the adrenalin from that night but luck wasn't at her side._

 _The man in front of her was Ethan Nakamura._

This incident was surely making its way up the times when Percy felt useless list. Annabeth glanced at him, her eyes unseeing and went on to remove his arm from around her waist taking a step forward towards the guy with the eye-patch maintaining a distance between them.

He could tell by her breathing that whatever this was, it was affecting her. A Lot.

Nonetheless, she took another step towards the guy and said in a controlled voice, "What are you doing here?" Her voice was still shaky and contained undertones of fear that judging by the brunette's smirk were evident to him too.

"Just checking up on you, Annie" He told her with a smile that was nothing if not cold.

"Annabeth…" Percy muttered unsure of what he should do. The eye-patch guy glanced up at him and raised an eyebrow and addressed Annabeth "Well, you seem to be doing good."

"Go away." She told him in a stronger voice than earlier making the guy laugh. "As you wish, My Lady." He said before taking another step towards her. They were close. Very close. Percy didn't like it one bit. Though he had met her only a couple of days ago, there was some sort of protectiveness he had towards her. Maybe it was because of the sick day, he had recently had when she had taken care of him, maybe it was because that she got along great with Thalia, maybe it was because of the fact that he didn't like creepy guys or maybe it was just because she was Annabeth, and that was all that mattered.

This, he assumed, was the time to step in. The guy had placed his hand on Annabeth's shoulder and she was glaring at him despite the fact that her hands were trembling.

"Leave me alone, Ethan." She shouted pushing him away from her. The realisation hit him like a ton of bricks. Hard and it Hurt. Ethan was the guy who had attempted to abuse a girl sexually and physically but had gotten his ass kicked. He had seen Annabeth's bruises.

Annabeth had been that girl.

Meanwhile, Annabeth's shove had had no effect on Ethan who was still standing in front of her though he was not as close as he was earlier, this in no way made a respectable distance. Percy stepped up lacing his fingers with Annabeth's and pulling her back behind him to face Ethan and shove some sense into that asshole. He pushed the guy away from Annabeth; "You do not come near her." He told her ragging out every syllable. The guy however had the audacity to try and shove him away. That's when a person came out of one of the shops and punched Ethan in the face. He repeated the same thrice before kicking the guy where it hurts and pushing him on the ground. Percy might have sneaked in a couple of punches too. the guy stepped back and looked at both of them.

Recognition flooded Percy as he took in the light blonde hair, grey eyes and angular face.

"Malcolm?" He asked incredulously. After what had been happening that day, he wouldn't be surprised if he was ambushed by a unicorn. Moving on, Malcolm gave him a look that was somewhere between grim and sheepish before turning back to Annabeth.

"Are you alright?" He asked her taking in her form.

"Yes." She said even though she looked pretty shaken up to him. She looked at Ethan's beat up body on the ground and back at Malcolm with a sceptic look on her face. Percy didn't feel sorry for the guy despite the multiple fractures and bruises they had inflicted on him. Annabeth didn't too; from the look on her face.

"Good." Malcolm said before realising the questioning gazes directed at him from both of them."I was just walking by and I saw him and I thought that you guys would like some help…Maybe." He somehow manages to sound uncertain despite his confident demeanour which he had up around ninety nine percent of the time, Percy had spent with him.

"Thank you." Annabeth said with a shy, grateful smile. Malcolm smiled back at her; a brotherly affectionate smile before saying, "Stay safe"

And with that he was gone.

Annabeth looked up at him and gave him a weary smile. They had been back in the carriage and off to leave soon as Malcolm had left. But they chose to stay silent and avoid the elephant in the room; it was easier that way. Though that doesn't mean that the weary, grateful smiles and worried glances weren't exchanged.

"Did you find it strange that Malcolm seemed to appear out of nowhere today just to beat Ethan because…" He trailed off looking at Annabeth who looked as if she had a really good idea about it but wasn't ready to share it.

"Can we please not talk about it right now?" She asked him.

He agreed.

The carriage stopped at an old park away from town which was pretty much deserted. The benches were rusted and there was a small artificial lake in the corner. The place was littered with gazebos like it had been a spot for various parties and would've made an awesome one if the place hadn't been as desolate. But it had this calm air around it that made Percy feel at ease. It was his getaway.

After they had sat in the carriage, Percy had thought that none of them were feeling like going back to the manor. He didn't feel like getting fussed over and Annabeth really did deserve a break; so voila, they decided to come to this park.

Currently, both of them were sitting on the feet of a gazebo side by side. They would've taken the benches but they were far too rusted and small for the two of them. She was sitting there with her head lolled back and hands massaging her temples with her eyes lightly shut. She looked stressed… and just so beautiful. That wasn't what he was supposed to notice, he reminded himself.

But he had to resist the urge to lean in and engulf her in a bear hug. As pretty as, adorable and stressed looked together; he didn't really like the awkward air or the fact that she was probably going to worry herself to death. And he wouldn't want that now, would he?

"Stop thinking for some time." He told her being the smooth talker he was. (Note the sarcasm)

"How do you I'm thinking?" She looked up at him opening her eyes turning a bit to face him.

"You're always thinking." He deadpanned.

"Legit."

He decided to tread on dangerous waters now that they were actually speaking and not just giving each other blank stares.

"So, that is why you don't like people touching you."

Her face shot up and her form tensed. He, however didn't regret asking that. If they were to spend time together and be on better terms, it was necessary that they would be on ease with each other.

"I'm not scared." She said raising her chin deliberately.

"Pfft" He scoffed. "Am I supposed to believe that?"

"No, you aren't. But I'd love it if you do."

He looked at her reproachfully making her bury her head in her hands. It was silent for a minute before she started speaking. She told him everything starting from when she came to the orphanage to the point where she ran away from Ethan's house. It was difficult to tell your life story to a person whom you haven't even known for a fortnight but Percy was a good listener. He never interrupted once and listened all while maintaining eye contact; his eyes showing neither pity nor judging her. She finally finished with a sigh, noticing that somewhere in between, he had slid closer to her.

"So that means I don't get to hold you, then?" He asked in a playful voice mentally facepalming a thousand times.

She frowned at him, certainly not expecting this but seeing the mirth in his eyes, she decided to play along, "No, you don't."

"Never?" He asked.

"Never." She confirmed

"Bummer." He shook his head. "Try and make some exceptions."

"Okay then, you can hold me when my arachnophobia starts acting up."

"Arachnophobia?"

'Fear of spiders."

"You're scared of spiders?" He laughed hard. He didn't judge her on the messed up back story but on the irrational fear of spiders. Figures.

She scowled at him. So, naturally he had to do what any other insane person would have chosen to do: He tapped her nose and said, "Don't frown."

It was her turn to be laughing. "Don't mind me _sire,_ but you really are a dork."

He shrugged at the, what he assumed to be a jab at his self esteem before letting a playful grin take over his expression.

They sat in a comfortable silence for about half an hour more before standing up and stretching a hand towards Annabeth to help her up. She stared at it making Percy realise that maybe she didn't want to touch him now. Earlier if he had been in such a situation with a girl, he would've disregarded as elementary but he respected Annabeth as he considered pulling it back.

Before he could, Annabeth's hand slid into his as she stood up giving her a small smile; her grey eyes not their usual stormy colour but a light, calm grey.

 _Everything might not be perfect right now. They still had to find out about Malcolm's strange appearance out of nowhere, Ethan had to be dealt with and then there was Annabeth and her seriously messed up past but it was in these small moments that everything seemed to be fine and the rest of the world could be disregarded, even if it was only a second or two._

 **xx-xx**

 **Yeah, I know. I'm a complete and utter bastardette. I haven't uploaded since the ice age and you have my pardon for that. Anyways, next chapter is going to be mine and I am so nervous. Really nervous. Really really nervous. Really-**

 **Okay.**

 **I'll stop.**

 **Anyways, I hope your opinions on this fanfic hasn't changed...**

 **I really hope not as I already got a word about uploading on time from the Queen, so...**

 **:)**

 **Yeah, hope you enjoyed!**

 **RM**


	13. Chapter 13

**I'll be one of those author that write anything at the bottom unless it's of great importance.**

Her ragged breath filled the room with tortured noises. She gripped her throat, her chest, desperate for oxygen. Her once beautiful hair is slicked with cold sweat. Her sheets ripped apart.

 _I'll have to sew that later,_ she noted to herself.

Like every night.

After a couple minutes, she tried getting up on her trembling legs. Using the bedside table as a her helper, she got up and move a bit.

 _Slowly,_ she soothed herself, _take it slow._

She progressively walked towards the bathroom, one small step on her vulnerable legs at a time. The bathrooms plain white walls and cold, stable floor reassured her. She walked in front of her sink and splash herself with water. It's coldness welcoming. It calmed her further.

Until she looked into the mirror.

She gasped, even if she had seen her reflection a millions of time before. After that fateful night, she had looked at herself a lot. To see if she looked different, had changed.

Nothing had changed.

Well, except her eyes.

They use to be light. Once, a girl from the orphanage had approached her. _"I like your eyes."_ She had said. _"They are like a feather, beautiful, rare and light."_ The girl wasn't older than 7. She had a heart shaped face and beautiful almond shaped eyes _._ Somehow, she found it impossible that such a sweet and soft soul got stuck in this horrid place.

It wasn't right.

 _But since when were things right?_

Back then, everything was okay. Even if she was abandoned by her family. She still had friends. She could survive.

Back then, she was so free, so innocent. She'd taken everything she was hoping for granted. Except her family. Now it's different.

She understands why her eyes became a darker gray. Like a storm, about to burst with lightning. She couldn't lie that she wasn't explosive.

After that day, the same girl had walked up to her. She was now a year older, but she hadn't really changed. Same beautiful face. Same beautiful eyes.

 _"Why are your eyes so dark? Why did they change?"_ The spoken girl crouched at the small girls level and though for a moment.

 _"One day, you will change. That's when you find yourself."_ She smiled softly at the smaller girl. The truth rang in her words.

 _"What's your name?"_ She had asked gently, tucking a brown curl of the other girls face.

 _"Giselle, but call me Gia,"_ Annabeth faintly remembered that her name meant Oath. _"And you?"_ The chocolate brown eyes tugged the heartstrings of the gray eyed girl.

 _''Annabeth,''_ She said slowly, as if admitting it. _''My name is Annabeth.''_

It was the first time somebody had talked to her voluntarily. First time someone had asked her name.

And she promised herself she would protect the girl with her life. The girl would find the perfect family. Until then, Annabeth would take care of her. Until she finally found what she deserved. Something far away from her. But she would always watch her from afar, as she grew into a beautiful woman.

Whist she, herself, grew lonely and frail.

Until she will be no more, having seen too much of the world's secrets.

Knowledge is power.

But it is also a poison.

So deadly it kills you.

But first, it rips you apart.

 **xx-xx**

 _'Okay,'_ Annabeth told herself, breathing deeply, _'On three,'_ Her breath came out shakily.

 _'One,'_ She straightened her back.

 _'Two,'_ She stared at the door as if she could see through.

 _'Thr-'_ Her thought was broken by the door opening. She came face with a chest. A _shirtless_ chest.

"Oh," Percy said, running a hand through his hair, the one who wasn't hurting. "Hi Annabeth." She quickly backed away from him.

"Hi." She replied, staring at the ground. Percy sighed softly, she had been distant lately. Never was in the same room with him, she would always leave with excuses. She would clean his room when he was away whether it would be because he had private tutoring or went to Jason's, or Calypso's. She would always stay quiet whenever they did talk and it was grating on his nerve.

What had he done?

"What are you doing today?" The question might have sounded casual but what Percy meant was 'Please don't be mad, spend some time with me.'

"I'm-" Annabeth racked her brain for an excuse. "I am cleaning the bathroom." She said without thinking, and blushed immediately after.

Percy sighed in defeat. Of course he didn't believe her lie. After all, who would wash a teenage's bathroom? Especially one of the same age. And of opposite gender.

''Spend some time with me?'' He asked without thinking. Annabeth bit her lip. ''Help me with my algebra homework.'' He added as an excuse which both didn't believe.

''You still haven't done it?'' She asked incredulously. At Percy's sheepish smile, she decided to help him.

''No, I'm slightly late in returning it.'' Annabeth sighed in exasperation, looking up at the ceiling for help.

''Okay, I'll help you.'' Seeing Percy's huge smile, she decided it was worth saying yes.

Percy backed back up into his room and picked up a random shirt in his wardrobe. He put it on, his back to her.

Crumpled pieces of paper with scribbled writing on it were lying carelessly on his bed. Annabeth assumed is was his homework and when she saw his form falling on his bed she opened her mouth to warn him against but she was too late.

The algebra homework was squished under Percy's heavy frame.

Annabeth sighed heavily putting a hand to her face.

''Whoops. Sorry Algebra.'' Said Percy, even though his look suggested he wasn't sorry at all.

''Why did I agree to this?'' Annabeth muttered. ''Come on,'' Annabeth urged. ''Up you get.''

Percy got up and Annabeth rescued the squashed paper. She then took a seat at his desk which looked brand new and proceeded to check his answers. To be serious, almost everything was wrong.

''You are so going to fail math this year.''

''They love me too much to make me fail.'' Said Percy cockily, looking over her shoulder. She could feel his breath tickling her ear and she shuddered pleasantly.

''I don't think so. If I remember correctly, Miss Dodds hates you.'' Replied Annabeth, ignoring what just happened.

''Nah, she loves me. She just hides it.'' Annabeth raised an eyebrow at that.

''In any case, she won't with this homework. Let me help you.'' Percy rolled back onto the bed, sighing dramatically. Annabeth stared at him like he was crazy.

''Why are you on your bed, we're going to do algebra homework?'' Percy gave her a look and patted the spot next to him.

''We're doing it on my bed,'' Annabeth's eyes slitted.

''Oh hell, no.'' The girl shook her head violently. ''We are _not_ doing homework on your bed.'' Annabeth laughed as if the mere idea was ridiculous.

''Then where do we do it?'' He asked confused.

''At the desk.''

Percy's eyes widen in pure fear and horror

''No,'' His breath hitched. ''No, no, no.''

Annabeth smiled coyly.

''Come on, Percy,'' She urged. ''Baby steps.''

Annabeth tried to be serious but when Percy's look of utter horror glared at her, she couldn't keep it in. She rolled on the floor her body shaking with laughter.

''It's not funny!'' Percy exclaimed, sending Annabeth into another fit of laughter. ''The desk hates me!''

Annabeth snorted loudly, ''I doubt that.''

''Please, Percy,'' She made puppy eyes. ''We just can't do homework on the bed.''

Percy caved in.

''Alright,'' Annabeth smiled. ''But if the desk doesn't cooperate, it's all your fault.''

Quickly, Annabeth sobered up.

 _It's all your fault._

''Yes, of course.'' She shook her head, getting rid of the intrusive thoughts and focused.

Percy stood up and sat slowly on his desk chair, as if testing the limits.

Annabeth peered over his right shoulder and explained what he did wrong.

''You see, here you added it together whilst when something on the outside of the brackets is without any sign against the brackets, it's times.'' By the end of the two hours of torture, Percy had learned way more than ever in his life.

''Tada!'' He smiled smugly and started doing a victory dance. With his algebra paper. The paper accidently fell to the floor and Percy, being the idiot he was,slipped on it, rendering it unreadable.

''Well, you just earned the opportunity to write it all out again on a new paper.''

Percy groaned.

'' _Alone._ '' Percy groaned even louder and Annabeth quickly skitted around the lump that was his body on the floor. She excited Percy's bedroom and let out a big sigh.

''I am _never_ helping him again.''

 **xx-xx**

 **I was about to write a Piper and Jason part but I really,** _ **really**_ **wanted to update this and get your opinion. Good? Horrible?**

 **And I'm working on this songfic which is why it took so long. It's hard to write and I decided that if the songfic was taking so long I might as well just not finish it before updating.**

 **:)**

 **Review!**

 **RM**


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